81R7839 JRJ-F
By: Gallego H.B. No. 3134
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appointment of election judges and clerks.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 32.002(c), (d), and (e), Election Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) The presiding judge and alternate presiding judge must
be affiliated or aligned with different political parties, subject
to this subsection. Before July of each year, the county chair of a
political party whose candidate for governor received the highest
or second highest number of votes in the county in the most recent
gubernatorial general election shall submit in writing to the
commissioners court a list of names of persons in order of
preference for each precinct who are eligible for appointment as an
election judge. The county chair may supplement the list of names
of persons until the 20th day before a general election or the 15th
day before a special election in case an appointed election judge
becomes unable to serve. The commissioners court may [shall]
appoint a [the first] person meeting the applicable eligibility
requirements from the list submitted in compliance with this
subsection by the party with the highest number of votes in the
precinct as the presiding judge and a [the first] person meeting the
applicable eligibility requirements from the list submitted in
compliance with this subsection by the party with the second
highest number of votes in the precinct as the alternate presiding
judge. The commissioners court may reject the list if the persons
whose names are submitted on the list are determined not to meet the
applicable eligibility requirements.
(d) The county clerk may [, after making a reasonable effort
to] consult with the party chair of the appropriate political party
or parties, and shall submit to the commissioners court a list of
names of persons eligible for appointment as presiding judge and
alternate presiding judge for each precinct in which an appointment
is not made under Subsection (c). The commissioners court shall
appoint an eligible person from the list who is affiliated or
aligned with the appropriate party, if available.
(e) The commissioners court shall fill a vacancy in the
position of presiding judge or alternate presiding judge for the
remainder of the unexpired term. An appointment to fill a vacancy
may be made at any regular or special term of court. The county
clerk should notify the county chair of the same political party
with which the original judge was affiliated or aligned of a vacancy
not [Not] later than 48 hours after the county clerk becomes aware
of the [a] vacancy [, the county clerk shall notify the county chair
of the same political party with which the original judge was
affiliated or aligned of the vacancy]. If the county clerk
notifies [Not later than the fifth day after the date of
notification of the vacancy,] the county chair of the same
political party with which the original judge was affiliated or
aligned of the vacancy, the county chair may [shall] submit to the
commissioners court in writing the name of a person who is eligible
for the appointment not later than the fifth day after the date of
notification of the vacancy. If a name is submitted in compliance
with this subsection, the commissioners court may [shall] appoint
that person to the unexpired term or [. If a name is not submitted
in compliance with this subsection, the county clerk shall submit
to the commissioners court a list of names of persons eligible as an
appointee for the unexpired term. The commissioners court shall]
appoint an eligible person who is affiliated or aligned with the
same party, if available, from a list of names of persons eligible
as an appointee for the unexpired term submitted by the county clerk
[the list who is affiliated or aligned with the same party, if
available].
SECTION 2. Sections 32.034(b), (c), (d), and (e), Election
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The county chair of a political party whose candidate
for governor received the highest or second highest number of votes
in the county in the most recent gubernatorial general election
may, not later than the 45th [25th] day before a general election or
the 20th [10th] day before a special election to which Subsection
(a) applies, submit to a presiding judge a list containing the names
of at least two persons who are eligible for appointment as a clerk.
If a timely list is submitted, the presiding judge shall appoint at
least one clerk from the list, except as provided by Subsection (c).
(c) If only one additional clerk is to be appointed for an
election in which the alternate presiding judge will serve as a
clerk, the clerk may [shall] be appointed from the list of a
political party with which neither the presiding judge nor the
alternate judge is affiliated or aligned, if such a list is
submitted. If two such lists are submitted, the presiding judge may
[shall] decide from which list the appointment will be made. If
such a list is not submitted, the presiding judge is not required to
make an appointment from any list.
(d) The presiding judge may [shall] make an appointment
under this section not later than the fifth day after the date the
judge receives the list and may notify [shall deliver written
notification of the appointment to] the appropriate county chair.
(e) If a presiding judge has not been appointed at the time
the county chair of a political party is required to submit a list
of names for the appointment of a clerk under this section, the list
of names shall be submitted to the county chair of the political
party whose candidate for governor received the most votes in the
precinct in the most recent gubernatorial election and to the
commissioners court. The county chair, or the commissioners court
in a county without a county chair, may [shall] appoint clerks from
the list in the same manner provided for a presiding judge to
appoint clerks by this section.
SECTION 3. Section 32.051, Election Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), [or] (e), or (f),
to be eligible to serve as a judge of an election precinct, a person
must:
(1) be a qualified voter of the precinct; and
(2) for a regular county election precinct for which
an appointment is made by the commissioners court, satisfy any
additional eligibility requirements prescribed by written order of
the commissioners court.
(f) A person who has been placed on probation, deferred
adjudication, or community supervision for a misdemeanor offense is
not eligible to serve as a judge of an election precinct during the
term of the probation, deferred adjudication, or community
supervision.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an election judge or clerk appointed for an election ordered on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.